


A Hero. A Legend. A True Best Friend.

by paperjamBipper



Category: Moana (2016)
Genre: (with added depressing-sounding fluff thrown in here and there), Angst, Gen, This is completely platonic, also just a heads up: I do NOT hold back in describing how maui dies in detail, but it's. not pleasant., give moana a hug 2k17, this starts out in the canon movie-verse and ends in AU-verse, violence warning doesn't apply because it's not gorey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-12
Updated: 2017-03-12
Packaged: 2018-10-03 10:10:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10242284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paperjamBipper/pseuds/paperjamBipper
Summary: An AU where the haka Maui used to distract Te Ka away from Moana worked- just like it did in the movie- but works too well. Maui perishes, at the hands of Te Ka, and poor unfotunate Moana fails to notice the spiral in her chest until it is too late.





	

When Moana returns from the bottom of the sea with the Heart in her hand, she is all alone. Gone is the spirit of her grandmother, and gone are the spirits of her ancestor’s canoes. The ocean, a mere few minutes ago vibrant and alive, is once more dark and quiet. The sound of beating drums and the sound of her ancestors singing encouraging words are now replaced with the quiet of the ocean breeze.

And if she listens hard enough, she thinks she can still hear the distant sound of flapping bird wings.

She shakes the thought away as soon as it comes to her, and hops back onto her canoe. Whatever. She doesn’t need him. She’ll restore the heart herself. At least with him gone she’ll actually have a chance to try to make it past the barrier islands. Reaching down, she picks the repair kit out of the basket sitting on the deck of her canoe. One by one, she mends everything on her canoe that had been broken when Te Kā sent her canoe flying miles away from the barrier islands.

Everything that had been broken during her fight with Maui.

Frowning, Moana jumps down from the top of the mast. She dips her hand in the water to check the current, and quickly finds that something almost seems….wrong about not having a second say in the changing of the currents. Scowling to herself, Moana removes her hand from the water and shakes it out with her thoughts.

She _doesn’t need him._ She _doesn’t._ Raising her hand to measure the stars, she sets her course for Te Fiti.

“I am Moana of Motunui” she tells herself, forcing all thoughts not related to her mission to the back of her mind. “Aboard my boat, I will sail across the sea and restore the heart of Te Fiti” She says aloud, and dips her hand back into the water to check the current again. It’s getting warmer. Nodding to herself, she removes her hand from the water and places her hand on her lap.

Returning to Te Fiti takes two days. The kickback from Te Ka’s fist coming down onto Maui’s hook set her back _two whole days._ Two whole days of nothing but wayfinding.

Two whole days of nothing but silence.

She’s almost relieved when the ash starts blowing through her hair again.

“Te Kā can’t follow us into the water” She says to HeiHei, just to be able to say it to _somebody._ She reaches up and ties her hair into a bun. She walks forward and grips onto a rope that had gotten itself pulled loose. “We make it past the barrier islands-” she says, irritation causing her to tug the rope back into place harder than she needs to. “We make it to Te Fiti”.  She picks him up and places him into a basket inside the storage compartment.

“None of which you understand- because you are a chicken” She says, and _pretends_ she doesn’t pause like she’s waiting for someone else to laugh. Frowning, she wraps the rope around her wrist and pulls the boat forward as Te Kā emerges from the ash and smog of the barrier islands. As she’s approaching Te Kā, she tries to think back to the last time she had gotten herself out of harm’s way in one piece.

No. How _Maui_ had gotten them out of harm’s way in one piece. When she had watched him, eyes beaming with admiration as he squeezed past the two Kakamora boats and got them away from their fleet alive. With that memory fresh in her mind, she rushes forward, grabs one of the ropes from underneath the boat, and jumps down on the bow to send the boat flying into the air. Rushing to the side, she grips onto the rope and _pulls_ to get it to stay up as she zooms past Te Kā reaching her hand down to grab her.

It works. Moana grins, viciously satisfied. If only he could’ve seen her do _that._ _That_ would’ve made this so much better. When a big cloud of smoke is blown into the air from Te Kā mistakenly slamming her hand down into the water, Moana quickly turns the boat around and heads back in the direction she had come from. She zooms past Te Kā, right through the barrier islands, and she’s so momentarily satisfied that it catches her off-guard when Te Kā hurls a fireball at the barrier islands surrounding her. They begin to crumble, large chunks falling off into the water around her. But she pushes on, and eventually she sees the outline of a larger island in the distance.

“Te Fiti!” She calls, out loud, but before she can adjust the sail to allow more wind to pass through, Te Kā suddenly bursts back out from the barrier islands, now facing towards her, and she’s sent flying into the water. Once she comes back to herself from having the wind knocked out of her from smacking into the water so hard, she swims back to her boat and re-emerges from the water, gasping for air. Without a second thought, she jumps back onto her canoe and grips the rope to flip her boat back over.

...It doesn’t work. Her confidence falls away with the ocean tide, and it is now pure _panic_ that’s motivating her to try again. And again. Her heart begins pounding in her chest, and it lightly begins to ring in her ears as Te Kā looms over her boat and reaches out for her.

But then she hears a hawk’s call from the sky, and realizes it hadn’t been her heart that had been pounding against her ears. It was the flapping of bird wings.

Maui came back. And as she watches him rush past her to get to Te Kā, Moana realizes she had been wrong before. Everything Moana did to make it to where she was, it was all thanks to Maui. Everything he had taught her and everything she picked up from him simply by watching. _That_ is what got her to where she is. She _does_ need him, and she realizes with a start- that he came back because _he needs her too._

She _knew_ he could count on him. She _knew_ he was reliable. He’s her _best friend_.

No.

He came back for her. For _her._ Even when he’s at risk of losing his hook. He’s willing to risk losing _his hook_ for her. He’s not just her best friend. He’s her _brother._ He’s her _family._

“Maui!” she happily calls out, reveling, a little bit, in the idea of having her with him again. He touches down on her boat, right in front of her, and Moana finds herself biting down the urge to rush towards him to hug him.

She settles instead for “You came back!”, her voice cracking with emotion, and Maui, _reliable Maui,_ laughs nervously. Like he’s _surprised_ that she’s happy to see him again. On his chest, Mini Maui crosses his arms and nods confidently at her, silently confirming her belief.

They’re here for her. Both of them. Always have been, always will be.

“But your hook-” she blurts out. “One more hit, and-” she says, finding herself pulling the words right from his mouth, and Maui laughs again.

“Te Ka’s gotta catch me first” He says, and Moana can’t help the affectionate smile that spreads to her face as he _further_ confirms her belief. Taking his hook, he flips her boat back around with ease.

“I got your back, Chosen One” he says, and Moana wants to _cry. Chosen One._ “Go save the world”

She finds herself biting down that urge again. Instead, she takes a step forward. “Maui” she says, and can’t help the affection ringing in her voice at his name. “ _Thank you”_ she says, and he turns to her, smiling.

“ _You’re welcome”_ he replies, her affection mirroring in his tone. He then turns against her and takes to the sky. Moana watches him, grabbing for the rope to control her canoe, and sees out of the corner of her eyes as Maui switches from beetle to whale mid-air, and it makes Moana want to laugh.

Just as she is using what he taught her, he is using what she taught him. As Moana rides towards Te Fiti on the wave Maui created for her, she can’t help but to look back and watch any more than she can the ever-growing _gratitude_ within her from seeing him fight for _her._

When they get this thing over with, she’s getting that hug. No exceptions.

. Smiling, she yanks on the sail to let more wind through, and barely notices the sound of Maui crashing down from the sky behind her. But then he _calls out to her,_ and he sounds _panicked,_ and it immediately pulls her from her blissful thoughts. She turns around, too late, and even _with_ the ocean assisting her, the impact from Te Ka’s fireball sends her flying back into the water. But then the ocean wraps itself around her and places her down on Te Fiti’s shore.

“Get the heart to the spiral!” He yells to her, and she nods. She rushes forward and begins to scramble up Te Fiti’s blackened shore, and out of the corner of her eye she thinks she can see Te Kā formulating another fireball to launch at her.  She begins to scramble upwards faster, and can’t help but flinch when she sees a fast blur of motion go by the corner of her eyes.

Suddenly there’s a blinding violet light, and the kickback from the sudden explosion sends her flying forward a few feet.

Her heart feels like it stops momentarily when she comes to the realization. She turns, and finds herself holding back a massive sigh of relief when she sees Maui push himself up from a small crag rock. To her horror, she sees that his hook is now nothing more than a broken handle, but she shakes the thought away. He’s _alive,_ and he sacrificed his _hook_ to _save her,_ and she can’t let that sacrifice go to waste. So she pushes herself the rest of the way up Te Fiti’s shore and she pops her necklace open and grips the heart in her hand.

Determination pushing its way to her front, she rushes forward without giving it a second thought, determined to get to the spiral not just for her, and not just for the rest of humanity, but also for Maui, her best friend, for throwing away what he values most for her.

Unfortunately for Moana, there is no land under her feet as she rushes forward, and she too late finds herself diving into the ocean. Confused, she tightens her grip on the heart to prevent herself from losing it, and she pushes herself back up towards Te Fiti’s shore. She takes a moment, once she re-emerges from the water, to look for a place where she can stand on dry land. Once she finds a small crag jutting out from the far end of the shore, she swims to it and plants herself on it to look around.

Nothing. There’s nothing around her but the ocean and the dead remains of the mother island.

Te Fiti

It’s _gone._ Moana opens her palm and looks at the heart still glowing in her palm, and realizes with a start that the spiral must have been moved elsewhere. She’s not sure where it could be, but if the heart is glowing as brightly as it is, then it must be nearby. Once she and Maui get out of here, she can use the heart to help them find their way back to the spiral so they- _they, together,_ can restore it back to its rightful place.

Moana’s heart drops out of her chest at the sudden realization.

Maui.

She had just _left him_ with Te Kā. He doesn’t know Te Fiti is missing. He doesn’t know that she’s turning back. That she _failed._

He’s still out there, all alone with the demon that caused his _downfall._ The demon that shattered his hook and left him without a weapon. Without any means of defending himself.

He’s still out there with Te Kā.

He’s still out there fighting for _her._

Suddenly overcome with panic, Moana fumbles to secure the heart back into place in her locket. Without hesitation, Moana dives back into the water, and swims; faster than she’s ever swam in her entire life back towards the center of Te Fiti’s shore. From this side, it is a straight vertical climb back to the top of the shore, but Moana does not care.

_Nothing_ will stand in way. She _will_ get back to Maui, and she would climb Lalotai’s entrance again if it means she can get him out of harm’s way. Throwing herself at the shore, she grips onto the dying remains of a tree root and heaves herself up out of the water. Taking a short pause to look for another grab hold, she swings her arm up and grabs for another. Swinging her feet back and forth, Moana launches herself upwards to the next tree root. From here, she sees with relief that there are enough stones and rocks jutting from the shore to provide her with enough footholds to allow her to push herself the rest of the way up the shore with minimal effort.

Before she can figure out how to reach her first foothold without risk of injury, she suddenly hears loud, angry shouting coming from the direction of the barrier islands.

It sounds like Maui, and he sounds like he’s _challenging_ Te Kā, and Moana finds _instinct_ momentarily pushing her panic aside as she launches herself towards the jutting rocks. She slams into it, hard, but does not stop to even allow the pain from the impact to come rushing to her. Her heart is beating out of her chest, and she forces herself to focus on the sound of Maui’s voice to keep herself grounded as she scrambles back to the top of the shore.

Her blood turns cold when she finally settles herself back to the top of the shore. Standing on the _pathetic excuse_ of the crag Te Kā had knocked him to, the shattered remains of his hook discarded next to him, Moana finds herself forced to watch as Maui performs a _haka_ for Te Kā-

No- as he performs a _haka_ for _her,_ to keep Te Kā away from her, and Moana momentarily finds herself frozen in place as she watches Te Kā loom over him, slowly conjuring a fireball larger than Maui himself to smite him with.

Overcome with panic, Moana grips at her necklace tightly, and accidentally pops it open. The heart slips right out of her locket, and keeping her eyes locked on Maui, Moana rushes forward to grab it. She watches, in horror, as she reaches to open her locket to deposit the heart back inside her locket, as Te Kā begins to viciously swing her arm up in the air, fireball held tightly in her grip with every intention to bring it down to smite her _best friend._ To smite her _brother._

Just as Moana is about to whip her head away so she doesn’t have to watch, Moana notices for the first time the outline of a spiral on Te Ka’s chest, and Moana’s hand freezes just as she’s just about to drop the heart back into her locket.

She doesn’t need to look down at the heart in her hand to know that it is the same spiral. Of _course._  

Maui still has a chance to survive. Moana knows she would not be able to reach him in time, so instead of listening to the instinct telling her to rush forward towards him, she instead raises the heart high into the air.

“Maui!” she shouts at the top of her lungs, swinging the heart around to get his attention. Instantly, even from far away, she can physically _see_ his warrior face crack clean off his expression as he turns to look at her.

“Moana?” he shouts back, but to Moana’s horror, before she can toss him the heart or offer him any explanation of what’s going on, Te Kā throws the fireball down, right over him, the impact of the explosion sends Moana flying backwards, dangerously close to the edge of the water.

No.

_No._

_NO._

_He can’t be._

_He CAN’T be._

Moana tightens her grip on the heart, her knuckles beginning to turn white, and she scrambles forward to look for him, because he _has to be alive._

Suddenly, Moana feels sick to her stomach. The crag that Maui had just been standing on is completely singed and blackened, well beyond any form of repair, and it’s just... _empty._

“No!” Moana shrieks, rushing down towards the water. He can’t be gone. He _can’t be._

For a few painstakingly long moments, Moana stares down at the water, hard, praying to _every god she knows of_ that he jumped out of the way in time. That he’s down in the water, somewhere, swimming towards the shore, and that he’s going to emerge from the water _any second now_ and stand back up at her side.

…But he doesn’t. No matter how long Moana stares at the water, searching every inch surrounding the island, nothing in the water stirs.

Her overwhelming grief hits her like a sucker punch to the chest, and she audibly gasps for air as she drops down to her knees. She wants to curl up into a ball, to be cradled, and the grief clouding out every other thought in her mind no longer cares about Te Kā. Slowly, she attempts to push herself upwards, but finds that she cannot move.

Maui died.

Maui _died._

For _her._

He tossed aside his broken hook and threw himself in front of Te Kā for _her._ He threw his own life away for _her._

His _broken_ hook. The hook that only cracked because she _didn’t listen_ to him when he told her to turn back. That broke because she was too stubborn to listen to anybody but herself.

Because she decided she didn’t need him.

He didn’t deserve this, she tells herself, and tears begin streaming down her face and dropping into the ocean.   _She_ didn’t deserve this. She didn’t deserve for him to sacrifice for her. A true friend deserves sacrifice.

Maui. Maui was a true friend. Time after time he sacrificed for her and compromised for her. _He_ deserved someone to sacrifice for _him_. _He_ was somebody worthy of being saved. Not her. Not her, Moana tells herself as she attempts to wipe the tears away from her eyes. Moana’s not a true friend. Moana didn’t deserve for Maui to sacrifice himself for her, because she doesn’t deserve to call herself his friend.

If she were his friend she would’ve listened. She would’ve turned back when he told her to. If she had, his hook never would have broken. He never would’ve needed to sacrifice for her. To die for her.

Friends don’t let friends die.

All of a sudden, breaking through the heavy foggy grief clouding her mind, Te Kā roars again, and Moana forces herself to look up from the water at her. The cloud of smoke surrounding her chest begins to clear, and Moana blinks away her tears as her vision begins to blur again.

Right in the center of her chest, right where Moana had noticed it before, is the spiral shaped hole where her heart is missing. Moana finally unclenches her hand from a fist, and sends a glance down at the heart in her hand. It dimly pulses twice before Moana returns her attention to Te Kā. Her eyes can’t help but fall back on the blackened crag where Maui once stood as her attention shifts, and it becomes clear to Moana what she has to do.

Maui sacrificed himself for her so she could restore the heart herself. She will not- _cannot-_ allow the death of her best friend to be in vain. Slowly, she shakily pushes herself to her feet, and once again begins to wave the heart in the air. _This time,_ it catches in a light, and the sight of its bright green flashing silents Te Kā immediately.

If she had done this right the first time, she realizes, she could have saved Maui’s life. This thought alone sprinkles grief-stricken bitterness over her determination to put the heart back and get things over with, but she forces the thought aside. It is only through patience and kindness that can restore something to its former glory. She learned this from him. She takes a deep breath, and when she shifts her full attention back to Te Kā she sees that she’s staring down the heart. Moana brings her arm down to her side and slowly re-approaches the water.

“Let her come to me” she says, quietly, and the ocean parts for her. She begins to walk down the path the ocean created for her, and on the other side, Te Kā screeches out in desperation as she begins to claw her way towards her.

Sighing deeply, Moana forces the grief out of her voice as she begins to sing.

_I have crossed the horizon to find you_ she sings, and for the _briefest_ of seconds she sees Te Kā slow and her expression ease up before she scrunches up her face in a scowl.

_I know your name_ she sings, and her grief begins to rush back to her as she climbs to the top of a small crag jutting out from the middle of the ocean.

_They have stolen the heart from inside you,_ and Moana can’t help the tears building in her eyes again. She blinks to get them to go away. She _has_ to keep going. For _him._

_But this does not define you-_ She sings, and does not so much as blink when Te Kā looms over her.

_This is not who you are_ , her voice threatening to break again. Te Kā, completely pacified with her words, begins to disintegrate before her very eyes as she begins to drop down to her level. If _only,_ if _only this had worked the first time-_

_You know who you are_ ; she finishes, and takes a few steps forward. She touches her forehead to Te Ka’s gently in a _hongi,_ and can’t help the tears that begin to stream down her cheeks.

“Who you truly are”, she whispers, voice cracking and broken, and after a few seconds she feels Te Kā reciprocate the gesture. Not even bothering to wipe the tears away from her eyes, Moana walks forward and places the heart right back into place. Immediately, Te Kā begins to crumble, and her hard, outer shell breaks away to reveal Te Fiti. Moana’s mesmerized by her, but the overwhelming grief weighing her heart down prevents her from offering her anything more than a half-smile. As Te Fiti begins to walk back to her true place, the ocean gently grabs Moana by the waist and holds her up in the air so she can watch Te Fiti restore her own island.

This- she thinks, Maui would’ve _loved_ seeing this, and Moana’s half-smile immediately drops from her face. The ocean places her down gently on Te Fiti’s shore, and Moana does not want it to. She wants to be held. Grief rushing back to her front, Moana allows herself now to drop into a laying position. She holds herself in her chest, because there is nobody left to hold her, and she begins to sob. Hot, stinging tears begin to pour down her face, and Moana finds herself so overcome with emotion that it’s difficult to breathe. Air is coming out of her like choked gasps, and she’s too busy trying to ease her breathing to notice the hand scooping underneath her and lifting her into the air. When she finally collects herself enough to take in large gasps of air as opposed to short-half choked ones, she looks up and finds herself met with the extremely pained, sympathetic eyes of Te Fiti.

“T-Te Fiti” she chokes out, and forces herself into a kneeling position to save herself the smiting. When she meets Te Fiti’s eyes again, she’s almost shaking her head like the gesture wasn’t necessary.

“What’s the matter, child?” Te Fiti speaks in a quiet, motherly voice, and it only breaks Moana’s composure further.

“M-” she starts to say his name, but gets choked up on the first syllable, and finds she needs to collect herself before she can continue. “ _Maui”_ she whispers, and sniffs loudly as tears begin to pour down her cheeks just at the sound of his name. “Maui-” she repeats, and grips at her necklace when a heavy pain begins to rush to her chest. “He didn’t-” she starts, but then she catches herself. “ _I_ didn’t deserve what he did for me.” She shakes her head. “He didn’t deserve to- to _die_ like that” She chokes, and the sympathetic pain in Te Fiti’s eyes only worsens.

“Why do you think so?” Te Fiti asks, and once again, at the sound of the soft, caring voice Moana definitely does not deserve to listen to, more tears begin to pour down her face uncontrollably.

“The only reason he died was because he came back for me” Moana says, and wipes at her eyes with the back of her hand. “Because he was trying to save me with a weapon _I_ destroyed” She grips tightly onto the skirt of her dress. “If I had just- If I hadn’t-” he splutters, her hands beginning to tremble. “If I had _listened_ to him,” she says, and pauses to glance at the empty space next to her on Te Fiti’s hand. “None of this would’ve happened, and he would’ve been standing here next to me” She says, and drops her gaze from Te Fiti. “Not like I would’ve deserved it” She says, shaking her head, and Te Fiti lifts her hand to bring Moana in closer to her.

“He will surely be remembered for this” Te Fiti says, trying to comfort her. “He will surely always be by your side in legend, no?” She asks, and Moana can’t bring herself to even pretend to smile at _in legend._

“True,” Moana offers, because she really doesn’t think it’d be a good idea to disagree with a _literal goddess._ “But that’s not- that’s not what he would’ve wanted!” she says, and can’t help as she throws her arms in the air. “I _know_ him, Te Fiti- and all he _ever_ wanted was to be appreciated _beyond_ his legacy. Being remembered for just his legacy and his legacy alone-” She shakes her head. “It just isn’t fair to him” She feels a tear drip onto her skirt, and she wipes at her eyes again as she forces herself to look back up and meet Te Fiti’s expression once more.

“You are going to be responsible for telling this tale for all who need to hear, yes?” Te Fiti asks, and Moana sniffs as she wipes at her nose with the back of her hand.

“Of course” Moana says, confusion mixing in with her grief. “If I didn’t-” she says, and pauses to collect herself to prevent her voice from breaking _again,_ just from _mentioning_ him _again._ “-There’d be nobody else around to” She says. “Why?” she asks, and for a brief moment the sadness leaves Te Fiti’s eyes as she smiles.

“Then that means you are free to tell the story exactly how you want. As long you make it known you have restored my heart to me” She says, and pauses to nod her head in gratitude before she continues. “There is no reason why you cannot tell of how much this demigod means to you. There is no reason why you cannot stress what he did for you” She says, and pauses for a moment. “And how he chose to act out of love rather than to act for himself” She says. “There is no reason why Maui cannot restore his legacy _and_ the love of the humans he cared so deeply for from the same story” He says, and Moana sniffs as she wipes the tears away from her eyes.

“I guess that’s true” she says, and it is. Everything Te Fiti is saying. She _cares_ about Maui, the same way she cares for her _family._ She can- No, that’s a lie- she thinks, smiling despite herself. She _will_ get her people to view him this way as well. She _will_ restore his legacy, and she _will_ restore the love unfairly stolen from him by his parents the same way she restored Te Fiti’s heart.

She _will,_ as Te Fiti said, _always_ have him at her side in legend. And she will do _anything_ to make sure that legend never dies.

Hope slowly planting itself inside her heavy, clouded grief, Moana uses it to find the strength to push herself to her feet.

“Thank you, Te Fiti” she whispers, and bows to her. Te Fiti smiles then, and slowly pulls Moana to her head to give her a _hongi._ Moana’s breath is shaky and broken as she reciprocates it.

“And thank you, Moana of Motunui” She says. Te Fiti’s accidental use of a nickname Maui had given her feels like a knife to her heart, but Moana tries her best to hide her wince and her pained frown. Slowly, after that, Te Fiti begins to lower her to the ground, and once again, Moana does not want to let go of the feeling of being held. Before she can do anything else, Te Fiti releases an armful of large, sweet smelling flower petals, and Moana’s canoe materializes in front of her, good as new.

No. It is just her canoe. It’s his canoe, too. It’s _their_ canoe. With a heavy pain secured in her heart, Moana approaches the vessel slowly, but her heart lurches painfully as soon as she feels the wood under her feet, so with a frown glued to her face, she jumps off. She stares out at the horizon, and as if the entire world is grieving with her, she watches as dark storm clouds begin to rumble over the horizon.

She remembers the first storm they had faced together. How exhilarating the wind felt rushing through her hair and how painful the rain felt smacking against her skin.

How she had slipped and fell overboard.

How he dove in the water after her and did not judge her or laugh at her once she was back on board. How he stood behind her and taught her to face the storm herself. She remembers his words so clearly she can hear his voice ringing in her head. If she left, she would be able to navigate the storm with ease.

But she can’t _face_ it. Not without him. Because “while facing a storm alone is definitely something that can and will happen to you,” A tear begins to stream down her cheek, remembering exactly the way he had said it to her. “It’s not something you should ever do for kicks. No matter how much fun it kinda is. It’s dangerous”

She doesn’t think she can face the ocean alone. Her best friend, her _brother_ perished at sea because of her. Wayfinders never sleep because they need to pay constant attention to where they’re going. Wayfinders never travel alone for the same reason. Wayfinders never travel alone because it’s dangerous. It’s _lonely._

She can’t travel alone. She already went _two days_ traveling without him, and she had to spend those entire two days convincing herself that _she doesn’t need him_ and that she’s _better off without him._

Moana doesn’t think she’d be able to handle that for the two month journey home. She contemplates, for a moment, if she should just stay here, on Te Fiti until her grief clears enough for her to be able to sail herself home properly.

But then two thoughts come to her at that consideration that both tell her that’s a bad idea, so she throws out that consideration as soon as they come to her.

The first is that Moana can’t say for sure when her grief will clear. If she waits, her grief may not leave her for years, and her people back home will start to grieve for _her_ , jumping to the conclusion that she died at sea. She can’t force her people to go through with her what she’s going through with Maui.

The second is that she can’t stay because she made a _promise._ To herself, to Te Fiti, to Maui. She promised that she would restore him to what he once was, and she can’t do that if she stays here. She made a promise he would go down in history not for just his legacy, but also for the _human_ he was on the inside. She can’t stay because she _has_ to keep her promise for him. It’s the least she can do.

She blinks, to clear her thoughts away, and stares back out at the storm clouds on the horizon. She cannot face them alone, so she will wait until they clear. She will wait it out here, on Te Fiti, and provide for herself until then. She is leaving the moment those clouds clear, because _nothing_ will stand in her way. She is Moana of Motunui, and she _will_ restore what was lost to her people.

She _will_ restore Maui to what he truly is.

A hero.

A legend.

A true best friend.


End file.
